All Over the Map

The weirdest thing happened to me a few weeks ago when I was getting my mammogram. My right breast was being gently shmooshed by the technician and I told her I was grateful to her for being so skillful and not causing me excruciating pain as has happened in the past with less skillful people.   Her response:  “I’m so glad to hear that. But don’t thank me -- thank Jesus.  Now please lean a little more forward and to the left. Perfect.  Excellent.  Now hold your breath a few secs so I can get my photo.”   I did what I was told, while feeling more than a little weird about her Jesus comment.   When she came back she set my breast free and proceeded to tell me about how hard her life had been until two years ago. She said she’d had a rough childhood and kept making bad choices when it came to men. She was a single mom of a teenage boy who was getting into trouble.  Then she found her church, her pastor, and Jes...

           When my daughter was preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, the Jewish rite of passage that prepares 13-year-olds to take their place as adults in the community (Bar Mitzvah for boys) she did a project on Jewish values regarding the treatment of animals.  That’s when I learned that it’s forbidden for Jews to hunt for sport, as it can cause prolonged pain and suffering for the animals.         I’d forgotten about that until October 7 th  and the days that have unfolded since then, watching and listening to the reports of 260 of young people at a music festival in the desert being hunted down and slaughtered, raped, burned and taken hostage by the Hamas terrorists.        And more reports of entire families being hunted and tortured and slaughtered in their homes. Mothers, fathers, babies, grandparents.   Many survivors have talked about the laughter of the killers throughout t...